Concept
BRAVING: the Seven Elements of Trust
BRAVING is Brené Brown's breakdown of trust into seven behaviours: boundaries, reliability, accountability, the vault, integrity, non-judgement and generosity. It turns a total verdict such as 'I don't trust you' into one specific element that can be discussed and repaired.
Brown builds on the coach Charles Feltman's description of trust as choosing to make something we value vulnerable to another person's actions. Because trust is usually discussed as all or nothing, a breach is hard to repair. Her seven elements make it specific. Boundaries: respecting each other's limits and asking when unsure. Reliability: doing what we say, and being honest about what we can take on. Accountability: owning mistakes and making amends. The vault: keeping confidences, including not passing on what others shared. Integrity: choosing courage over comfort and practising our values. Non-judgement: being able to ask for help without being judged. Generosity: giving the most generous reading to someone's words and actions, then checking. A breach usually involves one or two elements, and naming which one gives the other person something to fix. The framework comes from interviews and is not a validated scale.
A real-life example
A project manager at an engineering firm in Samsun learns from the client, not from her colleague, that a design review has slipped a week. Instead of telling him she can no longer trust him, she says that for her this is about reliability, and asks that delays come to her first. He agrees, and explains that he had thought she was too busy to be told.
How to use it
- 1When trust feels broken, identify the one or two elements involved before speaking.
- 2Raise that element with one specific moment, not a general verdict.
- 3Check yourself against the seven before asking a team to trust you.